Sony: “We are taking on Apple”

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has revealed that the beleaguered company is intent on taking on Apple and is now ready to do so: “I spent the last five years building a platform so I can compete against Steve Jobs. It’s finished, and it’s launching now.”

The reference to the integrated multi-device approach allied to owned TV and music services came as Stringer confessed the Sony TV set business was a mess but revealed ‘a new’ kind of TV was about to come out of R&D. He also said that there was “no doubt” Apple was working on a TV set, so it may be that Sony is looking to out-innovate and beat it to the punch.

He said Sony is working on a different kind of television, which will combat years of crippling losses in the Bravia division. Stringer told the WSJ that Sony “can’t continue to make TV sets in the way we have been” and admitted that “every TV set we make loses money”.